After a recent comment about the evils of plastic, a friend asked, Why are you anti-plastic? Good question. Have you noticed how many ways that concern for the environment can exhibit itself? Some people care primarily about energy and / or emissions; others care about the source of their food and what chemicals might be on it (and therefore in them).
My dad left a huge old ladder in my garage years ago. I have no idea why; probably to annoy me (and it worked). He frequently leaves unwieldy objects that he no longer wants in my garage.
Repair PDX is holding their first (official) repair cafe to help Portlanders fix their broken belongings instead of simply throwing them in the trash.
The first Repair Café event is under our collective belts. And it was a blast! Huge sigh of relief. Huge. Right on, Portland! I’m not sure the Last Thursday habituées were prepared to see a sewing machine – complete with a seamstress – plus disassembled computers at the (depending on when you dropped by) hippie/ster festival (or, perhaps, debauched event) that is Alberta Street once a month in the summer.
This summer, the Architectural Heritage Center is spotlighting the artistic journey of high school junior Kathryn Liu.
Are you crafty? Not sly or sneaky, but good with your hands? The type who’s got multiple hole punchers and scissors and an inventory of spray paint? Well, if not, you can head to one of the Portland-area antique malls and buy repurposed art or furniture from an artist who is good at that sort of thing.
The Arciform Design Team presents a one-hour workshop in the Kennedy School Library on how to bring the indoors out. Learn about outdoor kitchens, backyard guest suites, porches, decks and more.
Portland has been missing something. A place that everyone needs and needs to love- a Repair Café. These cafés exist in Europe, where people stop by the venue on designated nights to have a coffee and get their toasters repaired. Or the hole in their sweater darned, or perhaps a ripped piece of drapery fixed. Like-minded citizens volunteer their services and skills in an effort to keep goods in good working order and out of the landfill.
When Joe and Linda Kintz replaced a rotting gazebo in their Eugene hillside garden, they wanted more than just a basic garden shed. “We wanted space for storage, but we didn’t want anything ugly,” says Linda. “Those aspects came together in the design.”
